Daily Office?

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Okay, I wasn’t sure where this went, and this forum sounded the most reasonable.

My husband and I were just received in the Catholic church from the Anglican church. We are very happy, but there is one small thing that we miss.

In the Anglican church there is what is called the “Daily Ofiice.” It is and Old Testament Reading, a Psalm, an Epistle and a Gospel reading–just like in Sunday Mass.

What is the corresponding Catholic reading called?

We have been told it is the Daily Liturgy, the Liturgy of the Hours or the Weekday Missal (from three different people). None of these is exactly the same.

Is there a corresponding Daily Office in the Catholic church with an OT reading, a psalm, an Epistle and a Gospel reading?
 
JoyfulOne said:
Okay, I wasn’t sure where this went, and this forum sounded the most reasonable.

My husband and I were just received in the Catholic church from the Anglican church. We are very happy, but there is one small thing that we miss.

In the Anglican church there is what is called the “Daily Ofiice.” It is and Old Testament Reading, a Psalm, an Epistle and a Gospel reading–just like in Sunday Mass.

What is the corresponding Catholic reading called?

We have been told it is the Daily Liturgy, the Liturgy of the Hours or the Weekday Missal (from three different people). None of these is exactly the same.

Is there a corresponding Daily Office in the Catholic church with an OT reading, a psalm, an Epistle and a Gospel reading?
Click to expand...
Welcome home!

There doesn’t seem to be a separate daily service matching what you describe exactly. The closest is the “Sunday celebration in the absence of a priest” but as the title implies, it’s a Sunday celebration, and only in the absence of a priest.

The closest the Latin Catholic Church has on a daily basis is the Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours. It has three Psalms, a Scriptural reading (not from the Gospels) and a reading from the Church Fathers, the saints, or the Councils. It’s not quite the same.

If you really miss it, you might want to check whether there is an Anglican-use Catholic parish in your vicinity. They might have a similar service for people such as yourself.
 
First of all welcome to Holy Mother Church… :clapping: 😃

In the Catholic Church we have the Liturgy of the Hours of which you have the 4-volume Liturgy of the Hours or the condensed** 1 volume Liturgy of the Hours called “Christian Prayer”.** It is also known as Opus Dei = Latin for “work of God”, the Daily Office and the Hours to just name a few.

I tend to use the Christian Prayer one as I don’t like to have to be switching from one volume to another depending on the season.

The psalms and OT you’d find in Morning Prayer…which comprises the psalms their antiphons, OT canticle…etc You also would find the OT readings in the Office of Readings.

Catholic Book publishing sells both sets of the Liturgy of the Hours:

catholicbookpublishing.com/BrowseByDepartments.aspx?DepID=13&HierID=13

or you can view it online at ebreviary.com or universalis.com/-400/today.htm

In our Liturgy of the Hours you have Morning Prayer, Daytime Prayer, Evening Prayer, Nighttime Prayer and the Office of Readings which can be prayed any hour of the day.

If you want a breakdown of the basics of how all the hours are prayed you can visit my webpage:

geocities.com/christ_metanoia/liturgy1.html%between%

God bless
 
Is this something you would do at Church? Daily Mass has readings (although there is usually not an Epistle) and of course the Holy Eucharist.

The Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) has many psalms and readings throughout the day.

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin is similar to the Divine Office but shorter.
 
Hi JoyfulOne, I’m also an Anglican-to-Catholic convert (revert, actually) and I understand your dilemma. The daily lectionary that is part of the 1979 BCP is meant to be divided between Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, with the Gospel reading usually going to MP according to the rubrics. But there isn’t an exact parallel in the Catholic Church. MP and EP focus on the psalms, with a few short readings from either OT or NT. But if you follow MP and EP from the LOTH and do the daily mass readings (if you can’t attend), then you’ll get a more complete set of readings including the Gospel.

Hope that helps.
 
Also, the comment above about Anglican-Use worship made me think of this: If you’re interested in an Anglican-style Daily Office lectionary that is still Catholic, you can order a copy of the Book of Divine Worship here:

atonementonline.com/GiftNook/GiftNook.php

The BDW is a version of the BCP (both Office and Eucharist) that was “Romanized” for use in the Anglican Use parishes. The only drawback I see to it is that while pretty cheap ($29), it’s quite large and not very portable. But if you say the offices at home, it might be worth it.
 
Dear JoyfulOne,

yes I understand your loss concerning the Daily Office. The Daily Office and the LOTH are the same type of liturgal prayer. As you most likely remember Archbishop Crammer shorted the Brievery of Daily Prayers into two major offices (Morning and Evening Prayer) and two minor offices (noon and compline prayers) from the traditional seven times of prayer in the LOTH.

IMO the Daily Offices are best said in community vs “saying” them in private. The Daily Prayers/ LOTH are not a common occurance in most Roman Catholic Parishes; in part due to the difference in Roman Catholic vs Anglican spiritual traditions; the Anglican being based on a monastic model.

It was suggested that you look into the Book of Divine Worship (Anglican Use); and while this is the closest liturgy in the RC Church to the BCP (in fact it is based on the BCP) the Anglican Use Parishes will (at least at this time) last for only a short term, they have no process at this time to continue after the present clergy (former Anglican Priests die). The Book of Divine Worship costs $29.00, and as a former Anglican you most likley already have a copy of the BCP, or you can pick one up for around $12.00 and save some cash. IMO the BCP is the best one volume book of sacramental theology / liturgy on the market, and that is coming from a Catholic Monastic.

The best solution for you I believe is for you to find a monastic community and join in with them for the Daily Offices. You will most likely find that they do not use the 4 vol. LOTH but use their own Daily Liturgy based on the community’s spirituality.

Hope this helps !
In the Peace of Christ,

Br. Mark, OSB
 
JoyfulOne said:
Okay, I wasn’t sure where this went, and this forum sounded the most reasonable.

My husband and I were just received in the Catholic church from the Anglican church. We are very happy, but there is one small thing that we miss.

In the Anglican church there is what is called the “Daily Ofiice.” It is and Old Testament Reading, a Psalm, an Epistle and a Gospel reading–just like in Sunday Mass.

What is the corresponding Catholic reading called?

We have been told it is the Daily Liturgy, the Liturgy of the Hours or the Weekday Missal (from three different people). None of these is exactly the same.

Is there a corresponding Daily Office in the Catholic church with an OT reading, a psalm, an Epistle and a Gospel reading?
Click to expand...
For the Catholic laity it is called “Christian Prayer” and is a shorter version of the Liturgy of the Hours. You can obtain it in a single volume or a four volume set at any Catholic book store or on line.
 
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